Photos by BarrytheBirder
Pictured above are two hawks that are regular visitors to our backyard. On the left is a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) and on the right is a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). Seen separately, it always takes me a short while to decide which I am looking at, because of their similarities, which include shape, size, colour and feather pattern. I've never seen these two birds sitting live, side-by-side. But when I see them pictured as above, the differences become more obvious. Two differences, among others, are the size of each hawk and the eye colours. The Cooper's Hawk is 40-45 cm long, while the Sharp-shinned Hawk is shorter; only 28 cm. The Cooper's eyes are reddish-orange, while the Sharp-shinned's eyes are reddish-yellow. What beautiful birds.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder
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